


Uniform

by IsobelSionisFalcone



Series: Daughter of Steel [8]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Arthur's coat, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 14:59:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12584432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsobelSionisFalcone/pseuds/IsobelSionisFalcone
Summary: Arthur reminiscences about when they first took Hailey in and decides to surprise her with a well-deserved gift.





	Uniform

Arthur could still remember the little girl they'd picked up off the bombed out streets of Boston. Crouched in the doorway of the Old Corner Bookstore amongst the rubble, she was too young, too innocent to know what war was, but she knew. She knew it was the reason the buildings crumbled and why some people didn't look like people. She knew it was the reason she no longer had parents and why the general philosophy seemed to be every man for himself. With ferals to the West, Supermutants to the North and wild, vicious curs to the East, neither the Elder nor the Paladin were content to leave her there. War creates casualties, and orphans. They knew this, but big, soft eyes had caught theirs from over the ears of a ratty teddy bear, unsure, but she'd followed them without question all the same. Perhaps it was just another survival instinct, the knowledge that she probably wouldn't eat or drink that day if she stayed. By taking the hand Danse extended to her, she thought she could survive another day. The Elder supposed it was lucky, really - they must have looked rather frightening in full suits of power armour, the ones she'd seen on posters and in flyers, just painted differently, she told them.

Arthur remembered the first night she'd had to sleep through a rad storm. It had been only a few weeks since they'd adopted her as their own and she'd hardly moved from around their legs, but as the door to his bedroom had creaked open and light footsteps followed, Arthur had known it may be a little while until she learned to trust. Hailey had crawled under the covers at their feet and wriggled upwards, clutching the dirty teddy and Danse's was the first warm, safe chest she found.

"What's the matter, Hailey?" he'd asked, enveloping the entire span of her back with one hand. Arthur could feel the mattress trembling with her.

As the rolling thunder echoed, she curled herself into a tighter ball (how Arthur missed the Hailey of few words), and Danse kissed the top of her head, rubbing slow circles onto her back.

The Elder also remembered the first time Hailey had ever talked about her mother. They assumed she was dead, or had abandoned her young daughter in a drunk, chem-fuelled daze. It had taken months before she'd spoken of her family and the information, meagre though it may have been, was insightful all the same. It had emerged in the least expected of ways, but when Danse asked her why she liked putting Ingram's screwdrivers in size order, she answered; "Mom had red hair."

That had also been the first really cold winter they'd suffered in the Commonwealth. Hailey had sat on the floor in his quarters, pressed against Arthur's legs for warmth as she shivered violently. That was also the first time he'd shed his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. It wasn't until he'd felt a deadweight against his calf that he realised she'd fallen asleep, drowning in his heavy battle coat that she said smelled of safety and love.

The first time she'd whispered "I love you, Daddy" when Danse had tucked her into bed when she couldn't sleep had been a truly special moment. She was almost eleven years old by that time, learning fast and talking much more often. Arthur had watched from the doorway as Danse kissed her forehead and knew they'd made the right decision.

 

The Prydwen was colder than it should have been, Arthur noticed, as he rose from his desk. The stars glittered over the ocean and the full moon made Fort Strong glow a cold white. Danse had already retired for the night and the Elder would have joined him, eager to press himself against his Paladin's warm body, but he hadn't seen Hailey pass by the door. She normally called a 'goodnight, Dad!' en route to her room, but Arthur had been sitting at his desk from the moment she'd left a few hours ago.

He'd apologise to Danse in the morning for coming to bed so late. He wanted to ensure Hailey's well-being, first, so he left his quarters in search of her.

Finding the teenager was no trouble; Arthur knew her favourite spots on the Prydwen and, as her room was locked, the armour bay was empty and the walkway above Scribe Neriah's lab was deserted, that left him with one place in mind.

The flight deck was almost as deserted as the bay, apart from the two Knights guarding the door. Arthur proceeded to the back of the deck to a separate auxiliary control room. It was mostly used to store supplies up on the Prydwen, but it was fairly secluded and rarely visited. As he expected, Hailey was lying on her stomach, legs idly kicking the air behind her head as she leafed through a copy of 'The Unstoppables'. He was surprised to see that she looked as if something was bothering her. After her successful mission (and Danse's efforts to get her off the hook), he was a little concerned that she wasn't telling tales of her adventure to the Squires.

Arthur sat down next to Hailey, leaning back on his hand with a knee raised. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"It's freezing in my room," she replied. I'm pretty sure it's warmer out here than it is in there, so I guess Ingram hasn't fixed the heating."

"There's been a heating failure?"

Hailey rolled her eyes. "Where have you been? It's like the artic circle in there!"

"Just make sure you're up for training, tomorrow morning," he cautioned as she wriggled a little closer to him.

"Dad, I have this great thing in my room..." she began, looking up from her comic book at last. "It's called an alarm clock. It wakes me up when I tell it to. Can you believe it?"

"Point taken," Arthur sighed, placing an affectionate hand on her shoulder. "I was worried about you when you didn't come to bed, that's all."

There was a pause as Hailey mirrored her father's release of breath and rolled onto her back, gazing up at the ceiling. He watched her carefully, noting her furrowing brows, the dip in her cheek as she chewed it and her slightly downturned lips.

"Are you alright, Hailey?" he asked, brushing a stray tendril from her forehead.

Yet another lingering silence followed before she suddenly spoke up, her voice quiet and melancholy. "When we were down there, in the terminal," she began, "I... I thought it was great. Finally shooting something real and doing missions and stuff..." Her eyes caught his at last as she continued; "Then that 'Glowing One', or whatever they're called... It scared the crap out of me. I just froze up. I didn't know what to do. I can't imagine feeling like that all the time. Does... Does that happen to you?"

"It used to," Arthur replied, gently wiping his thumb across a streak of dirt on her cheek. "It gets easier."

"Why do people say that like it's a good thing?" Hailey said. "How can it be right that it gets easier to kill? What gives us the right to-

"Come here," Arthur said, shedding his coat as Hailey sat up and wrapped it around her shoulders. She leaned into her father's embrace and he kissed the top of her head before he spoke again. "Hailey, you're at the stage now where you're intelligent enough and have had enough experience to start asking philosophical questions..." he began. "Which is perfectly acceptable - if you plan on having an academic career, but it isn't healthy for you to become absorbed in questioning the meaning of your own existence and analysing everything you do. You know better than any of us what it's like out there," he told her, much to her surprise. "You know how difficult it is to survive. The reason we exterminate those abominations is to ensure the safety of the Commonwealth as much as we can."

"I know..." she said miserably. "I just don't know if it's right that we become desensitised to all of the blood and gory stuff. Doesn't that make us less human?"

"It means that we're willing to protect humanity in ways that others aren't." Hailey sighed whilst she considered her father's advice, pulling his coat closed around her body. "You reacted well to your first combat situation," he offered. When she didn't reply, he recognised this to be a tipping point in Hailey's motivation. He knew what it felt like because he'd been through it, as had Danse and every other soldier. All she needed was a little push.

"I've got something I want you to see," he said. "Come on. Back inside and I can show you."

Hailey raised an eyebrow. "Is this going to be like the time you wanted to show me something, but really you just wanted to warn me about chems?"

Arthur laughed as he helped her up, a rarity that made her lip curl in amusement. "No, nothing like that. Come on, I think you'll like it."

Hailey followed Arthur back across the flight deck and through the main door to the command deck. On the way to his office, she pestered him countless times, although he wouldn't reveal his secret. Only when he had closed the door behind her and bayed her to close her eyes did she find some sort of relief. This was the closest the teenager could get to her surprise. She was was so close and genuinely excited about this.

"Hold out your hands," Arthur said and placed something relatively soft into her hands, although she could feel cool metal buckles against her arms. "You can open your eyes sweetheart."

With bated breath, Hailey lifted her eyelids and looked at what he'd given her. Her heart leapt to her throat and her stomach flipped as she caught sight of the orange fabric.

"Dad!" she cried ecstatically, unfolding the Brotherhood uniform. "No way! I thought you said I wasn't ready to have my own uniform yet?"

Arthur's lips quirked upward into the only form of smile he knew how to give. It meant the world to Hailey. "You've shown that you're competent, intelligent and willing to pull the trigger on enemies of the Brotherhood," he said. "That's all I could ask from one of my soldiers. Just between you and me, you're going to be one of the finest."

Hailey threw her arms around him and nearly knocked the breath from his lungs with the force of her embrace. "I won't let you down, Dad. I'll live up to it. I promise."

Arthur chuckled softly. "I know you will, sweetheart."


End file.
